Group demands Venezuela envoy recall over Jewish conspiracy remark

A leading anti-Semitism watchdog group wants Venezuela's ambassador to Russia recalled.

The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center says Ambassador Alexis Navarro made anti-Semitic comments.

Navarro was quoted by the daily Moscow News as saying that a failed 2002 coup that briefly ousted President Hugo Chavez involved Israeli Mossad intelligence snipers "who were Venezuelan citizens, but Jews." The remarks appeared in an interview the newspaper published on May 15.

The group said in a statement Friday that it wrote a letter to Venezuela's foreign minister saying the comments were racist and incite violence against Jews.

A foreign ministry spokesman reached by phone said there was no immediate government response.